The effect of laughter on someone who’s sad. The danger and excitement of dirt biking. The reason human beings need so much sleep. The thought of infinity.

These are just a few of the topics that students are exploring through TED-Ed Clubs. This new program, announced today by our educational initiative TED-Ed, is a way to celebrate the ideas of students around the globe. Through TED-Ed Clubs, students — with the help of an adult facilitator — identify and research the ideas that matter to them most. And while TED-Ed Clubs offer students the opportunity to connect with others who, like them, are unabashedly curious about the world, TED-Ed Clubs are also about presentation literacy. TED-Ed Clubs offer students a hands-on opportunity to work on the storytelling and communication skills that will be vital, no matter what career path they end up strolling down.

TED-Ed Clubs are for students ages 8 to 18, and can contain up to 50 members. An educator — who gets materials and a hands-on orientation from the TED-Ed staff — leads the club through a series of 13 meetings, designed to get students to permanently wear their thinking caps. For the first three meetings, students watch TED Talks, discuss them and begin to think: what idea most captures my imagination? From there, students learn how to frame their idea and present it in a TED-style talk. In meeting 11, students give their talks in front of the club and, in the next meeting, work on editing their video. As a final step, these talks are uploaded to the TED-Ed YouTube channel — some may even be featured on the TED-Ed website.

Before today’s launch of TED-Ed Clubs, two pilot sessions of the program were held with 125 clubs in total. More than a thousand students participated in over 20 countries, including the United States, China, Sierra Leone, Pakistan, Brazil and Australia. The experience was pivotal for many students. One wrote, “I am not an excellent speaker. I hadn’t participated in much for the first 15 years of my life. … This [was], by far, one of the biggest opportunities I’ve ever gotten to express myself to an audience. My mind is always buzzing with ideas. Before now, I needed to be pushed into the spotlight.”

Educators were thrilled to see students get so into the program. Marc Siegel, a chemistry teacher in New Jersey, shared on his blog, “The most fascinating aspect of the club was the type of student who came to the meetings. Almost all of the students are those that you might classify as ‘wallflowers,’ excellent students who would prefer to sit quietly in class and complete their work rather than answer questions or have attention drawn to them. However, pull all of these students out of the classroom, give then a non-school related topic to discuss that actually interests them, and suddenly they won’t be quiet. Our meetings ran over time every time because the discussions were so interesting.”

TED-Ed Clubs are designed to create a generation of creative problem-solvers around the globe. Are you interested in bringing TED-Ed Clubs to your school? Find out how to start one »

By Robert Fogarty of Dear World When I was 14, my dad wrote me a note. He told me to figure out what I wanted and to go for it, but also that — if I failed and felt disappointed — that he wouldn’t be; that he’d still love me. I kept this note. Periodically, I read it to be reminded. […]

TEDYouth 2013 was a blast. In session 1, Suzanne Simard taught us about the familial relationships of trees. In session 2, Maya Penn shared how she launched a business at 8 years old. And in session 3, Ashton Kutcher thrilled the crowd with a surprise talk on what it means to be a “magnificent failure.” […]

stemworksblogcommented on Jan 14 2014

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Students work opportunity(www.facebook.com/helmy.elsaid)

campbellsclass101commented on Jan 14 2014

Reblogged this on Campbell's Class: 101 and commented:
Parents!! What an awesome opportunity for our young people. If you have a passionate, intelligent, articulate young person, or if you are a parent looking to give your child some public speaking help….check this out!